“I think people want an intellectually rigorous experience that’s cinematic and beautiful at the same time,” says filmmaker Jessica Solce. “But they’re scared of the political ramifications of the feelings that they might encounter.”

Solce herself doesn’t shy away from politically charged topics. Her self-funded first documentary, 2014’s “No Control,” is a notably even-handed examination of the gun debate that features interviews with figures across the political spectrum.

Among the gun rights advocates Solce spoke to was Cody Wilson, the controversial creator of the world’s first 3D-printed gun. After interviewing Wilson — then embroiled in a dispute with the State Department for distributing gun schematics online via his company, Defense Distributed — Solce knew she’d found her next film.

“I wasn’t done with the story. I was tired of seeing people making ineffectual, small, biased shorts on what Cody was doing,” Solce says. “I realized that this gun issue wasn’t really about guns. It was about the First Amendment. It was about sharing information online. It was about the digital era. It encapsulates and incorporates everything that’s happening in the Bitcoin space.”

Last October, Solce released “Death Athletic: A Dissident Architecture,” which follows eight tumultuous years in Wilson’s life. The film is indeed intellectually rigorous — as well as quite cinematic and beautiful.

It also refuses to settle for the kind of simplistic answers that would make “Death Athletic” an easy sell for producers or distributors.

This week, Align features our profile of Solce, in which she discusses the challenges of ultra-independent filmmaking and why she’s optimistic that an audience for nuanced and thoughtful discussion is out there.

We found our talk with Solce inspiring and illuminating; we hope you can say the same of the article that resulted.

Thank you, as always, for supporting Align.

Best,

Matt Himes, Align managing editor